Refrigerating apparatus



Nov. 16, 1937. J. A. M LEAN 7 2,099,567

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 15, 1955 INVENTOR H '5 ATTORN EY.

Patented Nov. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT ZOFFICE 2,099,561 nErmoEnA'rrNG APPARATUS John A. MacLean,

Ingersoll-Rand Company,

Hampton, N. J., assignor to Jersey City, N. J.,

a. corp ration New Jersey Application August 15, 1935, Serial N0. 36,372

3 Claims. (01. 52-152) My invention relates to refrigerating apparatus,

and particularly to regulating means therefor.

The invention is particularly'adapted to a rebulk of the refrigerant, which remains'liquid, may be cooled to such an extent as to freeze and thus stop the entire operation. To carry off the vapor llthat is formed an evacuator is employed, and

when this evacuator has the-form of a steam ejector, it must be turned on full to work efficiently and its capacity to displace vapor does not diminsh when the load drops. Therefore the danger of the system freezing when the load decreases is always present. I

It is an object of this invention to guard against freezing of the liquid by reducing the amount of vapor that is removed when the load falls, and 25 in the preferred form maintained at or above a virtually constant minimum temperature. The end in view can be gained by means of a suitable controlling or throttling element which reduces the flow of vapor 30 from the chamber in which the cooling takes The drawing shows in outline, mostly in section,

a refrigerating apparatus having regulating 45 means according to my invention.

The numeral l indicates a closed vessel called an evaporator in which liquid refrigerant, such as water, is cooled and then discharged through an outlet conduit 2. Within the evaporator some-of 50' the liquid is converted into vapor which is extracted through an outlet port 3 at the top by means of an evacuator 4 which is herein illustrated as being of the steam-ejector type. This evacuator is connected by a discharge flue 5 to a 55 condenser 6 in which the steam and vapor. are

too light andthe same mass of vapor continues to be removed, the- The vapor which is formed is the cooled refrigerant is casing or sylphon 23.

departing from the prinagain liquefied. The evacuator comprises a plurality of steam nozzles 'I connected to receive steamfrom a-steam chest 8 supplied through a pipe 9. I The liquid refrigerant to be cooled enters by way of a pipe l connected to a reservoi compartment ll'at the bottom ofthe evaporator. This chamber communicating with a well or space I2 is formed by a weir I3 and the adjacent portion of the wall of the evaporator.

This weir rises to a considerable height above the andv in practice the liquid refrigerant to be cooled flows over the upper edge of this weir or through an opening M.-

In practice the steam ejector creates and mainit' possible for the liquid to rise in the space or chamber I2 and be discharged in finely divided form at the top of the weir l3 toward the bottom. drawn out through the opening 3 and the bulk of the refrigerant 2 which remains liquid collects above the partition l and the compartment H and then flows into a central outlet recess it which is connected to the discharge pipe 2.

I To restrict the removal of vapor when the load 2 drops I mount a throttle element I! in the outlet 3, this element being in the form ofa damper mounted on a shaft l8 which also carries a pinion l9. This pinion meshes with a segment gear on the shaft 2| in the evaporator l. .The segment 3 20 is pinned to a rod 22 made fast to an expansible The end of the sylphon bearing the rod 22 is movable but the opposite end is fixed and is secured to a support 24 inside the evaporator and this end communicates through a 3 piece of tubing 25 with a thermostatic bulb 26 in the outlet space i6. Both the bulb and tube contain a fluid medium responsive to changes in temperature. These parts are so arranged that as long as therefrigerating apparatus is at full load the throttle II will be in the position indicated permitting the maximum amount of vapor to be carried off to the condenser'fi. When the load falls off and refrigerant at lower temperature enters by way of the pipe lo the temperature of the chilled refrigerant passing out through the pipe'2 decreases. When this occurs the medium. in the thermostatic element 26 and tube 25 enables the sylphon 23 to contract and then the valve l1 moves to throttle the outlet 3 and cut down the amount of vapor that is evacuated. Thus the refrigerant entering the evaporator l is prevented from being cooled too much. The

, danger of freezing is entirely obviated and the temperature of the refrigerant passing through 55 bottom 10 'tains a vacuum in the evaporator I, thus making 15 operating 40 the outlet conduit 2 is limited and can not be decreased below a predetermined figure.

The invention is quite well adapted to serve its intended purpose and is very simple in design and outlet for vapor fromithe chamber, and partition means within the container cooperating therewith to form a reservoir in the container to which refrigerant is supplied, and means defining a refrigerant outlet recess for the chamber, said partition means also forming a well through which refrigerant is conducted from the reservoir to the evaporator chamber.

3..Refrigerating apparatus comprising an evaporator tank having an evaporation compartment therein, a reservoir in the tank, means defining an 7 outlet recess for the tank passing through the reservoir, and means in the tank for delivering the contents of the reservoir to the evaporation compartment.

- JOHN A. MACLEAN. 

